Do I need a new boiler, or just a service...?

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Moved house recently into a place where I’m having to repair or replace everything, it seems. Anyway, in the garage is a Riello 40 oil boiler (gas isn't available round here) which manages to heat the house & water fine, but I’ve just discovered it’s using a good £50-worth of oil a week (and it’s not very cold at the moment, so it’s off a lot).



This is a large bungalow – 2 receptions, 4 bedrooms, bathroom, en-suite, small kitchen, utility room, conservatory, and a long L-shaped hall. It was built in 1994 – don’t know what that tells you about the standard of insulation used, but it doesn't feel like a very cold house.



What I’m wondering is if a service is likely to dramatically improve the performance of this boiler (from what I’ve discovered of the previous owner, it may not have had one in several years… possibly even EVER. But I don’t know that for certain).



Or is this an ancient unit (I don’t know if it’s the original, you see), and totally wrecked at this stage in its life, needing replacement to seriously reduce oil consumption?



PS the house has a total of 17 rads, of which 4 are the kind with no TRV, eg the two in the conservatory. Is this normal (I mean having 4 without TRVs)? I mean I have a vague idea you need one somewhere with no TRV as a "heat sink" or something...


Also, there’s no thermostat in the house, though I think there is one on the boiler, buried in the much and grime…


Much appreciated :mrgreen:
 
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Not a ch expert but rads in a conservatory are a total waste unless you like burning money
Fitting a thermostat must be cheap ?
Presume bungalows need v good insulation due to roof size
 
Not a ch expert but rads in a conservatory are a total waste unless you like burning money
Fitting a thermostat must be cheap ?
Presume bungalows need v good insulation due to roof size
fook me he isn't living in a barn with the cows burning £50 quids worth of oil a week is he ;):)

OP get someone in to have a look for you ,
 
But tell them the above! So that they know the backstory and are prepared to have the time to give everything a proper appraisal. If you just say boiler service required they will allow about an hour (if they're thorough) and your system may need longer!
 
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£50 a week in oil sounds to me like you have a major oil leak. I use £250-300 a year in my 1500sq ft 1970s 4-bed house. You're using ten times that. Check the condition of the tank and get the oil supply pipe pressure tested
 
The Riello burner you have is still in production. It has barely changed in 30 years.
Which boiler is it attached to??
 
This will give you some idea of the level of expertise you're dealing with here... I didn't know they were even separate things
 
Don't think so, but I'll have a look when I get back home. Thing is, I'm in N Ireland and freezing, so I'll have to get some oil in the tank tomorrow, but don't want to get very much in case it's leaking or I need a new tank.

What happens if somebody has a full tank but needs a new one? Do they have some kind of pump to transfer it, or what?
 
OK… sorry, was out and about there. I’ve taken a few pics with my phone, but its camera isn't great. There’s the remains of a yellow label on the big square thing (I assume that’s the boiler), but no trace of writing or logo left.



All I know is it looks ancient to me… thing is, here in N Ireland, there’s a decent grant (like £600 or maybe a bit more) available to replace boilers over 15 years old :love:



I’ll be ringing the plumber first thing in the morning, don’t know how long it’ll take him to become available to look at it – my instinct is to get it replaced if it’s old enough to qualify, but you guys may tell me different…



PS it does smell quite strongly of oil when running (not when off), but there isn't a pool on the garage floor or anything :confused:


Thanks again :D
 
So where are the photo's ??

Sorry mate, I'm absolutely exhausted. Here they are:
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Don't think so, but I'll have a look when I get back home. Thing is, I'm in N Ireland and freezing, so I'll have to get some oil in the tank tomorrow, but don't want to get very much in case it's leaking or I need a new tank.

What happens if somebody has a full tank but needs a new one? Do they have some kind of pump to transfer it, or what?
Buy a couple of decent pullovers and wait for your oil engineer to get to you, it's not that cold yet, and they'll be a hell of a lot cheaper than either the wasted oil from filling your tank, or the clean-up costs and possible fines from dumping oil into the ground which between them can run to tens of thousands of pounds, or even more if they discover that it's leaked under your house as they can require your house to be demolished to clean up the spillage.

Not sure what the scheme is in NI, but grant-funded installations over here tend to be thrown in by poor-quality installers - you're not allowed to use your own installer. As I say though, may well be different over there. Your boiler should be fine though, I certainly wouldn't expect you to recoup the cost of replacing it in saved oil
 
…or the clean-up costs and possible fines from dumping oil into the ground which between them can run to tens of thousands of pounds, or even more if they discover that it's leaked under your house as they can require your house to be demolished to clean up the spillage.


Err… cheers. I think :eek::eek::eek:


Not sure what the scheme is in NI, but grant-funded installations over here tend to be thrown in by poor-quality installers - you're not allowed to use your own installer. As I say though, may well be different over there. Your boiler should be fine though, I certainly wouldn't expect you to recoup the cost of replacing it in saved oil


It is different here. My parents (just round the corner) had their oil boiler replaced earlier this year (theirs dated from 1984!), and their own plumber did it, whom they've known for many years – it’s him I’ll be calling first thing tomorrow. Then the Housing Executive pays for it. Seems like a good scheme, but as you say, it may not pay for itself.


https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/grant-to-replace-your-boiler


I’ll worry about establishing if there’s a leak first though, then decide what to do.


This system brings the hot water on when you turn the heating on – there seems to be no way of controlling the water separately. Though the wall controller has separate programmes for heat and water, it completely ignores the hot water programme I set, and brings it on and off with the heating :confused:


I use virtually no hot water (have an electric shower), so it seems horribly wasteful constantly heating a tank… so I'd also thought of having a combi boiler, maybe…
 
With an oil combi you have to heat the store to get hot water.
A boiler with proper controls will solve your problem.
 

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